Just six safeties have been taken in the top 10 of the last 10 NFL drafts, but Alabama’s Ha Ha Clinton-Dix said “it’s realistic” to think he’ll go that high come May.

“I watched Mark Barron do it a couple years ago, when he went 7, so it’s been done,” Clinton-Dix told the Free Press after he paid a predraft visit to the Lions today. “If they want to take me at 10, I’m looking forward to it and I would love to be in Detroit.”

Clinton-Dix and Barron played the 2011 season together at Alabama. Clinton-Dix was a true freshman who played mostly on special teams while Barron was an All-America whom the Lions liked coming out of the draft.

Though Barron plays strong safety for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Clinton-Dix is considered the draft’s top free safety, Clinton-Dix said he and Barron are similar players.

“I definitely would compare myself to Mark,” Clinton-Dix said. “He’s a great player, plays fast, can move around, can cover slots. He’s pretty much a do-it-all guy, and that’s what I look up to.”

The Lions, who pick 10th in May’s draft, are in the market for safety help after missing out on the top players at the position in free agency.

They hosted James Ihedigbo on a free agent visit last week and still could sign him, but the former Baltimore Ravens safety is switching agents and awaiting the birth of his first child back home in Texas.